CBSE twice-a-year board exams: Here's how final Class 10 scores will be determined

More than one in four students appeared for the CBSE Class 10 board improvement examination this year under the board's newly introduced improvement exam.

CBSE’s improvement exam model allowed students who cleared the first session to improve marks in up to three subjects. For students who did not pass in one or more papers, the compartment route provided another opportunity within the same academic framework.

CBSE’s Class 10 second board examination, held from May 15 to May 21, saw 6,68,854 regular candidates register across categories. This came out of nearly 24.7 lakh students who appeared in the first examination, putting participation at around 27%.

Private candidates had also registered, though the majority of participation remained from regular school students.

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Final marksheets and merit certificates are expected after the second exam results are out. Major papers in the second exam schedule included Mathematics, English, Science and Social Science, according to the official datesheet.

CBSE Class 10 Improvement: Key figures

A major reason behind the large turnout appeared to be score improvement.

Of the total regular registrations:

The improvement category alone formed the largest share, as students who had already passed the first board exam still chose to reappear to secure stronger scores in key subjects.

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CBSE Class 10 Improvement: Major Subjects

Subject preference data suggested that students largely returned for high-weightage or traditionally difficult papers.

Science emerged as the most opted subject, followed by Mathematics.

The trend suggested that students targeted subjects that significantly affect overall percentage, stream eligibility, and future academic competition.

CBSE Class 10: Final Marksheets

CBSE is expected to issue updated final marksheets after the improvement exam result for candidates who appeared in Session 2 as well.

The board will follow a best-score approach while preparing final records.

This means;

• If a student scored 70 marks in Session 1 and 80 in Session 2, then 80 will be retained in the final marksheet.
• If a student scored 70 in Session 1 and 60 in Session 2, then 70 will remain valid.
• For compartment candidates who cleared the paper in Session 2, updated qualification status will reflect in final certification.

This system reduces the risk of score loss while allowing students to attempt improvement without penalty.

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CBSE’s two-board model

The participation level in the second exam showed that the two-board system was being actively used beyond just failure recovery. Improvement registrations heavily outnumbered compartment entries, indicating that students increasingly treated the second exam as a strategic score-building opportunity.

At the same time, the concentration in Science, Mathematics, English and Social Science highlighted continued academic pressure around core subjects.

With final marksheets likely after the second exam results are compiled, CBSE’s first year of the dual-exam model may shape how future students plan board preparation, subject prioritisation and score improvement.